Peking University, May 20, 2013: “This graduate forum, compared with other conferences, will bring you a brand new experience, because you graduates will be the stars on stage today,” remarked Professor Liu Zhongfan, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences at the opening ceremony of the Physical Chemistry Graduate Frontier Forum.
Aiming to enhance intercollegiate academic communication and broaden students’ horizons, the forum was held at the PKU College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering (CCME) on May 18.
With the support of CCME and the PKU Institute of Physical Chemistry (IPC), the forum was completely organized by a few PKU graduate students, which made it stand out among similar academic activities.
“It is a brave try. As one of the advisors of the forum, I’ve been impressed by their efforts, including the early preparation and the arrangement of every session,” said Liu in his opening speech. He thought the successful launch of forum highlighted the interest of PKU students in research and their ability to hold such large-scale activities.
Meanwhile, Liu briefly introduced the development of physical chemistry discipline at Peking University. As one of the oldest and best physical chemistry departments in China, IPC has trained a huge number of accomplished scholars. Currently, there are 32 faculty members at IPC and six research directions — catalytic chemistry, colloid chemistry, material chemistry, biophysical chemistry, nanochemistry and computational chemistry. According to these directions, the forum set up four panels, providing a platform for participants to share their research progress.
The forum brought together graduates from various universities and institutions around China, including PKU, Tsinghua University, University of Science and Technology of China, and National Center for Nanoscience and Technology. Renowned scholars were invited to serve as consultants.
Jiao Liying, associate professor from Tsinghua University, who received her doctor’s degree at PKU in 2008, gave a special report themed “Pay and Gain as a Graduate” after the opening speech. In addition to recalling her doctoral research related to carbon nanotubes, Jiao specially mentioned the difficulties and setbacks she encountered in the process, encouraging students present to persevere with their own researches.“Efforts will pay off someday,” said Jiao.
The forum also set a poster session for participants to present their research work and exchange their ideas.
Reported by: Xu Xinyi
Edited by: Zhang Jiang
